Hoping for a deep state run

Two teams who played earlier in the regular season will lock horns once again at 5 p.m. Friday in an OSAA U.S. Bank/Les Schwab Tires state baseball sub-round play-in game at Quinton Street Ballpark in The Dalles.

The goal is to play one pitch, one inning and one game at a time.

For the seven seniors, this is their last playoff ride wearing the crimson and gold.

“It is one game at a time like always,” said TD coach J.R. Runyon in an earlier interview. “You stay with the approach, stay positive and keep working hard to get better every day.”

The Spartans (11-14), out of the Midwestern League, have scored 146 runs in 25 games and the pitching staff, led by ace hurler, Tanner Cantwell, have allowed 120 runs.

Along with Cantwell, a first-team all-league athlete who can hit, Matt Haney and Rowdy Huston are the big threats.

When scoring eight runs or more, the Spartans are 8-1, with the lone loss coming on May 7 in an 11-10 home setback versus Sheldon.

In their past 10 games, Marist, out of Eugene, has gone 4-6, but they are coming off a 6-0 shutout victory over South Eugene.

There is a bit of history between both schools, as the two hit the diamond on March 17 at Quinton Street ballpark.

In that game, the Spartans broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the top of the seventh inning and held on for a 3-2 win.

TD pitchers Austin Wilson, Colton Walker, and Clayton Ringer surrendered just two hits, but walked seven and allowed two unearned runs as the team committed three errors in the field.

Nolan McCall paced the Tribe’s four-hit attack with a 2 for 4 effort with a stolen base and an RBI.

Gordy Harris and Zach Cantrell had a hit apiece, with Cantrell slamming a double, stealing a base and driving in a run.

With the four hits and four walks, The Dalles stranded five runners on base.

It was one of the Spartan’s five road wins on the year. The team has gone 5-7 away from home, but have won two out of their last three ballgames.

The Dalles starts playoff action with a 5-5 record in its last 10 matchups, but they have gone 2-5 in the last seven games, scoring 6.7 runs a game in that span, including a 12-run outburst in a comeback victory over Madison on May 20.

In the friendly confines of Bob Williams Field, the Eagle Indians are 11-4 and average 8.2 runs.